The inaugural edition of the Knotfest original series The Gauntlet crowned it's first winner with the all out audio assault of mathcore outfit Frontierer knocking off some especially stiff competition.
Pooling the very best in heavy music throughout the month, The Gauntlet gives fans the opportunity to cast their vote for the music videos and bands they like most - pitting music videos against one another in a unique head-to-head battle for supremacy and bragging rights.
To kick off the monthly music video fight club, Knotfest enlisted the help of Youtube fixture Nik Nocturnal to function as the master of ceremonies fans at home got to choose who had to go and who got to stay. Among the bands vying for the crown, some 23 different artists touching on various subcategories of heavy were all jockeying for the top spot. From genre staples like Iron Maiden, Trivium and Black Label Society, to sensations like Spiritbox, Jinjer, and Whitechapel, to heavy music's new school like Turnstile, Tallah, and Unto Others, the assortment of artistry made for some tough decisions as the fans had plenty of quality options to choose from.
Ultimately, Frontierer's molotov of a track in "Glacial Plasma" managed to tally the most knockouts among the fans in the chat and was voted overall best song of the month by the viewers. A fiery assertion of precision and horsepower, the Scottish/U.S. collective assert a potent meld of extremity with the kind of track that is as immersive as it is intense... and the fans seem to agree.
See the field of competition from the inaugural Gauntlet below.
Unto Others "Downtown"
Iron Maiden "Stratego"
Spiritbox "Hurt You"
Rolo Romassi "Cloaked"
Lorna Shore "...And I Return to Nothingness"
Dying Wish "Until Mourning Comes"
Don Broco "One True Prince"
Turnstile "FLY AGAIN"
Tallah "Vanilla Past"
Trivium "Feast of Fire"
Every Time I Die "Post - Boredom"
Black Label Society "Set You Free"
DREGG "Radio Replica"
Frontierer -"Glacial Plasma"
Brand of Sacrifice "Enemy (feat. Underoath)"
Four Stroke Baron "Sundowner"
Motionless in White "Timebomb"
Archspire "Golden Mouth of Ruin"
Jinjer "Wallflowers"
Whitechapel "Lost Boy"
Full of Hell "Reeking Tunnels"
Wolves in the Throne Room "Primal Chams" (Gift of Fire)
Foreign Pain "Knell"